Felicity sat on the fence of her family's ranch in Wyoming,
her eyes scanning across miles of wide open fields and flat land. "I
am so f.king bored," she complained, tossing her thick mane of
blue-black hair across her shoulders. With a heavy sigh, she wondered
if she would ever get out of this hellhole of a town full of nobodies.
She wanted to explore the world. Maybe then she would finally find
the place where she belonged.

If a 9th house Venus in Cancer were a romance-novel heroine, her
story might begin just this way. Astride the family fence, looking
out at a wider world, she surrenders to her deepest longing, the
central paradox of her nature: her 9th house desire for freedom and
her Cancer need to belong. Felicity's tale was in
fact written by a 9th house Venus in Cancer. The author was one of
hundreds who responded to a brief note appearing at the end of my
last Venus article (which launched this planet series two years ago): I'm
currently working on a book about Venus. If you'd like to participate
in my research, I have a juicy questionnaire which will help you
explore your Venus placement and help me verify what the goddess
wants us astrologers to know. Email if you're interested.

I expected a dozen, maybe twenty or thirty brave souls would reply.
That number would surely dwindle once they saw my questionnaire with
32 open-ended questions probing into all facets of the Venus experience-love,
relationship, aesthetic tastes, creativity, finances, sex, sorrows,
and happiness. Having worked for years in market research, I well
knew the odds against getting respondents to complete a lengthy survey,
especially one so intimate. I hadn't planned on joining the ranks
of Michel Gauquelin with a vast statistical project. (1) Mine
would be qualitative, not quantitative research.

Quantitative speaks in percentages. It requires a carefully controlled
sample and non-ambiguous questions, focused to support or disprove
some in-going hypothesis. Qualitative is used when a researcher isn't
sure what she'll find. It's exploratory and subjective, as when gathering
a dozen people in a focus group to discuss potato chips or lighter
fluid. The patterns and design of the study become clear only after
the talk gets going. The data gathering instrument is not a computer,
but the mind of the researcher, who must become like a sponge in
a bucket, fully immersed in whatever shows up.

Quickly I was more than immersed. I was drowning. I was inundated
with surveys for months. When the same article appeared a year later
on the Astrodienst website (and I forgot to delete my author's note),
more Venuses stepped forward to volunteer. After some dropped out
and I had to turn others away, I tallied up 426 completed surveys.
This in itself was a finding. It affirmed that interest in the Venus
archetype was compelling enough to drag many otherwise busy people
through an extensive self-revealing questionnaire. Happily, quite
a few reported that just answering the survey had brought them closer
to Venus. This was indeed my hope-that the questions would reward
both the respondents and researcher with a new awareness of her presence.

Delighted as I was, many days I was afraid to enter my office. The
intimacy, depth and sheer number of the responses was daunting. Like
many practicing astrologers, I was oblivious to my own transits.
Eventually I realized that by transit, Neptune was squaring my Venus.
I could have hoped this would lift the veils of creative inspiration,
bringing a feeling of timeless absorption as I spent days reading
questionnaires and nights receiving dream messages from the goddess
herself. Sadly we don't often get the transit we want; we get the
one that shows up. I got the "lost" Neptune transit. Imagination
froze and I went blank. Any understanding I thought I had of Venus
disappeared. I'd alternate between reading questionnaires and avoiding
them, feeling perpetually at sea with the project. Once my Neptune
transit was complete, virtually on the day it lifted, a vision of
how to organize and report the results arrived like a storm. As is
often true of Neptune transits, a part of me, shrouded in unconsciousness,
had been working all along. The result is "Your Venus Unleashed,"
not a book, but a computerized report designed to give the reader
the best of what I'd experienced, deep immersion in the Venus archetype.
It contains what I've learned on my personal Venus journey over the
past five years, but more importantly, it's filled with the voices
of my generous research participants, who allowed me to quote (with
anonymity) their insights and experiences.

Many stories brought tears to my eyes, like this one from a Gemini
Venus conjunct Uranus. Gemini is the messenger and Uranus can bring
flashes of otherworldly knowledge; combine that with a very psychic
Moon/Neptune conjunction in the 12th house, and it's not surprising
that this woman works as a channel. Quite literally in the following
account of a happy memory, her Gemini Venus became Love's messenger.

"For a long time I've known that life continues after death.
I needed no proof; it was simply a part of my awareness. Within
hours of my daughter's Beloved being killed by an impaired driver,
I began to hear-as if they were dropped into my mind-the words
and music 'I will always love you' and I had an image of a dozen
dark red roses with one white rose. Please understand, I rarely
get clairvoyant messages. I 'know' things; I don't 'see' them.
At first I ignored the words but they kept repeating-not the entire
song, just 'I will always love you' with the image of the roses
over and over. I finally decided to act on my intuition. On the
way to my daughter's home, I arranged for the red roses with the
one white one to be sent to her, writing on the card, 'I will always
love you.' No signature. The moment I finished writing, I heard
deep within me, in Arthur's voice, 'Thank you, Mother.' I was flooded
with such a feeling of love and gratitude I could hardly contain
it. It may seem strange that such an unhappy occasion was also
an occasion for happiness, but I'll never forget how glad I was
for this sign of continuing love and how grateful I was to be able
to help."

In the three happy memories shared by respondents, themes related
to their Venus sign, house or aspects often appeared. The same was
true when I asked about three unhappy times, for if Venus defines
what brings us joy, she also defines our sorrows. Venus can be saucy
and sexy, but as the principle of receptivity, she is tender and
sensitive too, exposing herself by what she cannot bear. The following
anecdote comes from a Venus in Libra. It's a small event, but likely
it lingers in memory because it confronts themes so central to this
placement-the attunement to others, the desire for beauty and harmony,
and the horror of anything rough, rude, or ugly.

"When I was a teenager, I went to boarding school, leaving my
sweet boyfriend behind. When I came home for the Christmas holidays,
I had caught the measles from an epidemic at school. My face was
all swollen. In those days in the country we didn't have a phone.
My sweet boyfriend showed up without me having had a chance to
tell him not to come. I did hide in my bedroom as I didn't want
him to see me so ugly, but my mother insisted I show up. She insisted
so much that it became more uncomfortable to hide than to appear.
I felt profoundly unsupported by her, profoundly humiliated to
briefly show up and to watch the horrified expression on his face,
which was, in fact, the last time I ever saw him."

If only the mother of this Venus in Libra had known some astrology!
When I drafted my questionnaire, I didn't know which questions would
be most productive. Happy and unhappy memories were telling, but
the most imaginative portraits of each sign's Venus came from two
questions in particular: I asked people to describe someone whose
feminine expression they most admired and to describe their idea
of a goddess-either one met in real life or imagined. These answers
were often strikingly on sign, with women and goddesses of independence
and strength appearing for the Venuses in Aries, compassionate and
nurturing women/goddesses for the Venuses in Cancer, and for the
Venuses in Leo, bright laughing women/goddesses expressing themselves
with confidence. Although the following account is not typical of
the Venuses in Aquarius (who tended to admire independence, unorthodoxy
and the capacity to love unconditionally), it's quite appropriate
for this sign. Who else but Venus in Aquarius would describe a goddess
ET!

"Yes I have met a goddess. One rainy night our sky-watching group
vectored in a craft in Britain and I, along with two other men, one
from the BBC, were sent to investigate the unusual lights about a
quarter mile away. We came upon a most perfect woman floating over
the mud in the field. She came within a foot of my face, repeating
my greeting back to me. I found I could not move my body; neither
could the others. Frozen to the spot, we were silent, calm and stunned.
She moved on. After a minute we found we could move again. The three
of us agreed we had seen an ET Queen or a Goddess. She was shorter
than 5'6" and of perfect form and face. Her movements were superb,
full of grace and her cloak glowed with radiance. She acted regal
but without false ego. I'm still impressed by this and it occurred
over ten years ago."

By research standards, my sample was healthy, but hardly representative
of the population as a whole. I heard from women and men, but predominantly
women. Ages ranged from 17 to 79, with the majority being between
40 and 65. All had an interest in astrology and many were involved
in creative Venus-ruled professions. That the sample was self-selected
limits my authority to generalize about everyone's experience of
Venus. But which signs elected to participate is itself an interesting
finding. For each sign, the average number of surveys completed was
roughly the same-with four notable exceptions. The Virgo and Scorpio
samples were nearly double those of the other signs; the Taurus and
Libra surveys were almost half the average.

Why had I heard from so many Venuses in Virgo and Scorpio and so
few in Taurus and Libra? My theory on this evolved over time, until
it eventually led to the finding I consider most important. At first
the sample skew made simple astrological sense. Virgo and Scorpio
are the signs most associated with research. Virgo has the patience
and analytical curiosity to complete a lengthy survey. Scorpio enjoys
probing beneath the surface into psychological patterns and causes.
What's more, in the article carrying my invitation, I had expressed
confusion about my own Venus in Scorpio, prompting many others with
a Scorpio Venus to commiserate.

But why were the Taurus and Libra samples in such short supply?
As Venus-ruled signs, these might have been most eager to explore
Venus matters. I suspected the tone of my article had driven the
sample in the opposite direction. I had been dissatisfied and mystified
by my experience of Venus, inadvertently skewing representation toward
the traditionally unhappy placements. Venus is in detriment in Scorpio,
in her fall in Virgo; in Taurus and Libra, she's more regally disposed.
Perhaps my sample merely confirmed astrology's system of rulership
and detriments. Those with a well-placed Venus were busy enjoying
their happy lives and had little need for further exploration. Those
with troubled placements were more amenable to recounting and hopefully
unraveling their difficulties.(2)

Yet once I read through the surveys, I no longer believed this.
Many of the Virgos and Scorpios had wonderful Venus expressions.
The level of their sensuous awareness and creative engagement indicated
a strong alignment with Venus in their daily lives. These signs weren't
at all bad for the goddess. In fact, I later discovered that among
the Sumerians, Virgo and Scorpio were the two constellations most
associated with Venus (as Inanna/Ishtar).(3) Among Venuses in Aries,
a sign also in detriment, I found a passionate sensibility that was
reminiscent of early historical descriptions of this archetype-as
both a goddess of love and of war. The group with Venus
in Pisces, a sign considered favorable for Venus because she's exalted
here, did have a special Piscean flavor of creativity, idealism,
and supernatural leanings. But the group's overall blessings fell
into the same bell curve as the other signs, with a few at the fringe
seeming inordinately graced or cursed, and the rest enjoying an average
range of Venus ups and downs. In survey after survey, difficulty
or ease with the Venus archetype seemed less conditioned by sign
or house than by life experiences-which often showed a greater correlation
with aspects to Venus. But the real meaning of these experiences
was decided by free will, that is, by the individual's attitude toward
what had occurred.

So what caused the Virgo/Scorpio and Taurus/Libra skew? I now believe
it was astrology itself. My readers are astrologically savvy people.
I suspect those with Venus in Taurus and Libra were less inclined
to participate because they were generally happy and inspired by
what they'd heard or read about their Venus. Those with Venus in
Virgo and Scorpio were left dissatisfied or mystified by astrology's
experts. In their questionnaires, many respondents were openly angry
with these judgments; others agreed ("Yes I'm cold and picky," or "Yes
I'm withdrawn and vengeful. Am I doomed?") Often enough, I found
myself delighting in someone's unique portrayal of Venusian sensibilities
throughout a survey, only to find at the end, when I asked for an
opinion of their Venus placement, the individual would fall sadly
into line, thinking he or she was cursed.

This led to what I felt was my most significant finding: astrology
has some cleaning up to do. We've got to look beyond the cultural
Venus stereotypes. And we need to abandon our habit of naming "good" or "bad" placements.
Assessing planetary weakness or strength, quite valuable in horary
judgments, (4) has less relevance in natal astrology. In birth charts,
detriments, falls or exaltations aren't particularly useful, except
as they make people feel blessed or cursed. Better is determining
why a person was born with a particular arrangement of Venus sign,
house and aspects. I've come to believe that whatever this is, it's
the ideal position for that person's feminine expression. It is their
assignment, the road to their happiness. Helping that person travel
this road in confidence and joy is a good use for astrology, although
it requires new listening and new learning. The more questionnaires
I read, the more convinced I became that every Venus placement is
beautiful. It was simply my job to discover why. This is indeed a
Venusian approach, as her core values are acceptance and appreciation.

Consider Venus in Virgo. Astrology books typically portray her as
an uptight school marm, cold in love, full of criticism. But as a
group, the Virgo Venuses I found were more sensuous than any other
sign-if sensuality is measured not by how quickly one falls into
bed with a lover, but how developed are one's senses, how attuned
one is to the pleasures of taste, sight, touch, and sound. The Venus
Virgos loved quality more than criticism. They were so at home in
the natural world, that shy as they indeed were, they enjoyed being
naked to a much higher degree than any other sign. How should we
write this up for a cookbook? Consider the following description
from one of my Venus-in-Virgo participants:

"My Venus is strong, willowy, and magical. Amazonian. Very grounded
yet full of life force. She can perform seemingly impossible feats.
She is a loner. Connected to nature. Out in the moonlight conversing
with stars. She has the kind of eyes you fall into and don't want
to climb out of. She is pure openness and fluidity. She can't be
held or possessed, only delighted in-if you are fortunate enough
to encounter her. She is strangely powerful yet timid, rare as a
unicorn and equally as shy."

The portrait is fanciful, but captures Virgo's femininity better
than anything I've seen in an astrology book. Venus in Capricorn
is another sign often mistreated by astrologers. This Venus is typically
described as unaffectionate and reserved, tending to marry for status
more than love, choosing partners who can bring her material advantages.
Among the Capricorn Venuses I looked at, I found little indication
this was true. The problem with most Venus interpretations is they
do nothing more than drape a Sun sign in a dress. Because Capricorn
Suns can be stodgy and calculating, the same traits are presumed
of Capricorn Venus. Such thinking altogether misses the Venus archetype,
whose qualities are universal. Venus brings everyone access to pleasure,
passion, abundance, joy, creativity, sexual potency and self-love.
The challenge is discovering how her values best thrive in a particular
sign. The possibilities are more diverse than is usually imagined.
Consider the following portrait from a Capricorn Venus. The person
whose feminine expression she most admired was not some Donald Trump
in a dress, but someone earthy, responsible, and beautiful by being
both sturdy and soft, who valued tradition and was willing to work.
These are also Capricorn traits.

"I admire my grandmother-a formidable old lady. She was very
hard and very strong. She had a hard life as many of her generation
had and she'd been widowed and therefore single for all but 6 years
of her adult life. She embodies women for me as she demonstrated
such strength of character. So fierce in some ways-a former nurse,
a single parent, a meticulous housekeeper and cook-yet so feminine
in others-always dressed correctly, always jewelry or hats or brooches,
always the right coat, always dignified. There were handmade lace
mats all over her house and hand knit shawls for babies she adored.
Her display cabinet held remnants of bridal bouquets from both
her daughter's and daughter-in-law's weddings."

Who knows whether the grandmother described actually was a Venus
in Capricorn. Beauty lives in the beholder's eye, so the portrait
reveals a kind of feminine beauty that inspires a Capricorn Venus.
Another Venus sign often labeled as less than passionate is Gemini.
It's believed that androgynous Mercury, who rules this placement,
somehow dilutes her sensuality. I found the opposite was true. Clever,
playful, and flirtatious, the Gemini Venus group was delightfully
adept in many Venusian arts. Even more than Venus in Libra, who's
often praised for her social charms, the Venuses in Gemini had no
qualms about walking up to people and turning on the charm (while
Venus in Libra was more reticent and sensitive, being more easily
mortified if she was rejected).

Contrary to astrology's party line, Mercury gives Venus a special
advantage. That's because of this truth: Love and Sex are intimately
connected to the Mind. Knowing this was actually Cleopatra's secret
weapon. (5) She was no beauty-her nose was hooked, her lips were thin,
her body was squat. But she rolled herself up in a rug and had this
delivered to Julius Caesar. When he unrolled it, Cleo immediately
began dazzling him with conversation, speaking in perfect Latin and
Greek, charming him with poems, stories and laughter. She conquered
him that night. Like Cleopatra (who, by the way, adored libraries),
Venus in Gemini has mad skills. She is the ultimate courtesan.

But then every Venus has mad skills. To discover your own, you must
learn to approach her as a lover. See her as Don Juan deMarco sees
women. (6) "I see women for who they truly are-glorious, radiant, spectacular.
. I am not limited by my eyesight. Women react to me the way they
do . because I sense out the beauty that dwells within them until
it overwhelms everything else and then they cannot avoid their desire
to release that beauty and envelop me in it."
Your Venus merely wants the same from you.

Michel Gauquelin is a French statistician
and astrologer who demonstrated the strength of planets within ten degrees
on either side of the angles through correlating celebrity and career
with planetary positions in thousands of charts. >>

Venus in Aries is also in detriment
and Venus in Pisces is exalted. Both of these signs, however, showed
representation within the average. >>

In horary astrology, a chart is calculated
for the moment a client asks an astrologer a question. Planets are symbolic
of certain persons or outcomes; their strength and weakness is used to
predict their likely success. >>

For this the information on Cleopatra
and many seductresses who used brains over beauty, I'm grateful to Betsy
Prioleau's book, Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love (Penguin,
2003). >>

This quote refers to the character played by Johnny
Depp in the 1995 film, Don Juan deMarco. >>

"YOUR VENUS UNLEASHED",
report by Dana Gerhardt

Unleashing Venus will change your life. See her as you've never Seen her before.
Acknowledge her whispered desires and insistent shouts. Follow her trail of clues
toward greater happiness.

Based on extensive research, Dana Gerhard's unique report
offers an inspiring analysis of your Venus sign, house, and aspects, including
transits and progressions, and so much more.

As one of the largest astrology portals WWW.ASTRO.COM offers a lot of free features on the subject. With high-quality horoscope interpretations by the world's leading astrologers Liz Greene, Robert Hand and other authors, many free horoscopes and extensive information on astrology for beginners and professionals, www.astro.com is the first address for astrology on the web.